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Malaysian Reserve
3 days ago
- Business
- Malaysian Reserve
Agoda Partners with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer to Raise Breast Cancer Awareness
BANGKOK, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Digital travel platform Agoda organized a charity run aimed at promoting breast cancer awareness and raising funds for essential research and treatment programs. Held in collaboration with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer (QSCBC) Foundation, the event took place on Sunday, June 8, at Palm Garden in Lumphini Park, Bangkok. Agoda will contribute all charitable donations raised during the run to the Foundation's health initiatives aimed at innovative treatments, educational campaigns and early detection programs, and more. The event drew more than 200 Agoda employees including members of the company's senior leadership team. The charity run reinforced Agoda's commitment to deliver meaningful social impact programs aimed at preserving and enhancing the communities where its employees work and live, while encouraging them to engage directly with causes that resonate with them. 'We are very proud to organize this charity run for Agoda employees in collaboration with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation,' said Damien Pfirsch, Chief Commercial Officer at Agoda. 'This event enabled us to make a difference in our local community while fostering a deeper connection with those around us. It's inspiring to see our employees rally together for such an important cause.' Agoda pledged a minimum donation towards the foundation of THB 100,000, with additional voluntary contributions from participants using Quick Response (QR) codes placed around the venue. Proceeds will support innovative treatments for advanced-stage breast cancer patients and those unresponsive to conventional therapies, research on white blood cell-based immunotherapy, as well as educational campaigns and early detection programs. 'Beyond funding, raising awareness is critical to the battle against breast cancer. This run is an important reminder of how education and proactive efforts can bring positive changes to our communities. We are happy to join Agoda organized this event.' said Dr. Adhisabandh Chulakadabba, Director of the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation. The Agoda Charity Run unites employees for a cause that transcends the workplace. It is a testament to Agoda's dedication to inspiring positive change in the community. Together, Agoda and its partners are supporting organizations improving women's health and empowering communities through awareness, action, and collective compassion.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bangkok rescue footage taken night after building collapse, not days later
"1/04/2025 One more new survivor was found. Miracle is real. Please hang tight. Everyone is trying to rescue you. We're sending mental support. Information: Chayan Sawatdee," reads a Thai-language Facebook post shared April 1. Text superimposed on the video reads: "Miracles are real." The clip shows nighttime rescue efforts at the rubble site with someone saying: "OK, the toe wiggled. I can see your toe. Hang tight." The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar sent tremors to cities hundreds of kilometers away in China and Thailand. In Bangkok, a skyscraper that was under construction collapsed, prompting a rescue mission and scrutiny over a Chinese developer. (archived links here and here). As rescue operations entered their eighth day on April 4, authorities at the site said they had found nine survivors and 15 bodies, while nearly 80 people remained missing. The clip racked up more than 71,000 likes and 8,300 shares, with captions celebrating what appeared to be footage of someone rescued after spending three days under the rubble. "Overjoyed that they found another one alive. I hope they keep finding more survivors," one commenter said. Another user wrote: "I'm happy for the survivor." However, the clip was filmed March 28 -- not April 1. A keyword search for "Chayan Sawatdee" surfaced the same video posted March 31 by a Facebook user with that name -- a rescue worker at Bang O Fire and Rescue Station in Bangkok (archived link). Chayan confirmed to AFP that he filmed the video the same day the building collapsed. "I took the clip on the first day," Chayan said during an April 3 phone interview. "A man survived." Metadata from Chayan's original video, which he shared with AFP, confirmed it was filmed the evening of March 28, hours after the skyscraper collapsed. A representative from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) confirmed to AFP that no survivors were rescued April 1. AFP has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about the earthquake here.
AFP
04-04-2025
- General
- AFP
Bangkok rescue footage taken night after building collapse, not days later
"1/04/2025 One more new survivor was found. Miracle is real. Please hang tight. Everyone is trying to rescue you. We're sending mental support. Information: Chayan Sawatdee," reads a Thai-language Facebook post shared 1. Text superimposed on the video reads: "Miracles are real." The clip shows nighttime rescue efforts at the rubble site with someone saying: "OK, the toe wiggled. I can see your toe. Hang tight." Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken April 3, 2025 The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar sent tremors to cities hundreds of kilometers away in China and Thailand. In Bangkok, a skyscraper that was under construction collapsed, prompting a rescue mission and scrutiny over a Chinese developer. (archived links here and here). rescue operations entered their eighth day on April 4, authorities at the site said they had found nine survivors and 15 bodies, while nearly 80 people remained missing. The clip racked up more than 71,000 likes and 8,300 shares, with captions celebrating what appeared to be footage of someone rescued after spending three days under the rubble. "Overjoyed that they found another one alive. I hope they keep finding more survivors," one commenter said. Another user wrote: "I'm happy for the survivor." However, the clip was filmed March 28 -- not April 1. A keyword search for " Sawatdee" surfaced the same video posted March 31 by a Facebook user with that name -- a rescue worker at Bang O Fire and Rescue Station in (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the misleading post (L) and Chayan's video on Facebook Chayan confirmed to AFP that he filmed the video the same day the building collapsed. "I took the clip on the first day," Chayan said during an April 3 phone interview. "A man survived." Metadata from Chayan's original video, which he with AFP, confirmed it was filmed the evening of March 28, hours after the skyscraper collapsed. Image Screenshot from taken April 4, 2025 A from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) confirmed to AFP that no survivors were rescued April 1. has fact-checked other false and misleading claims about the earthquake here.
The Guardian
30-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘I must have hope': the families waiting for news of loved ones after Bangkok tower collapse
Pluem, 18, had been working for just one month at a construction site in Bangkok's Chatuchak district. It was her first job since leaving her family home. 'She found the work because she wanted to live on her own,' said her mother, Wanpetch Punta, 38. She was hired as an electrician on the 30-storey construction, which was soon to become a new office block for the city's auditor-general. On Friday, when tremors from the earthquake in neighbouring Myanmar reached the Thai capital, the entire block collapsed in an instant. Eleven people are confirmed to have died in the disaster. Rescue workers are frantically searching for 78 people who remain missing. Families, including Pluem's, sit on mats and plastic chairs nearby, clasping phones and waiting desperately for news. A perimeter of metal fencing has been set up to cordon off the search and rescue efforts, but it is not tall enough to mask the towering heap of concrete slabs and twisted metal bars. The floor is covered in dust. Every so often, a boom sounds out as debris is tipped away. Wanpetch has been here since 5am on Saturday morning, waiting. She follows social media for news, and goes back and forth to a nearby tent, to check for updates on the list of bodies rescued or recovered. Pluem, fun and patient, is loved by everyone, she says. 'I must have hope.' Rescue workers have deployed search dogs, thermal imagery drones to search for signs of life. Several countries, including the US, China, and Israel, have sent equipment and expert teams to assist in the search. Officials from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said signs of life had been detected in one area of the site early on Sunday morning. Many of the people missing are migrant workers from neighbouring Myanmar and Cambodia. Nai Talee, 19, came to Thailand two years ago, after fleeing the conditions in his home country, Myanmar, which has been gripped by conflict since 2021, when the military seized power in a coup. 'He found work and he is very good at saving money, very hard working,' said Simma, 26, his aunt. He would send money back home to his father and grandmother, and put some towards his savings. The family home in Myanmar survived the earthquake. Nai Talee was working on the 26th floor, according to colleagues who managed to escape. Simma's husband, Komyo, 38, who waits with her at the rescue site, last spoke to his nephew at lunchtime on Friday, just before the earthquake struck. He was happy as usual, and had been napping during his break. For the past two days, Simma has tried to call his phone again and again. It used to ring out, but now is switched off. They're sitting with a friend, also from Myanmar. She is seven months pregnant. Her husband is among the missing. Across from them, Sophorn Chhay, 42, from Cambodia. Her eldest son, Ratana Phalla, 25, is also missing. He was working as an electrician at the site. The last time they'd spoken he had told her that, when he'd finished his contract on 10 April, he would come to stay with her. He'd told her that he needed to earn money first, she said. All families can do is wait, follow news updates on their phones, and watch to see if bodies are carried out. Bangkok authorities said on Sunday evening they 'remained hopeful' and would intensify their work around the clock. The Thai government has ordered an investigation into why the office collapsed. Wanpetch says she is trying to force herself to keep eating. Sometimes she can sleep a little, sometimes she can't, she says. 'I want them to speed up their work. I want to know the result. I don't know what else I can do,' she said.
Associated Press
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Tokyo, Bangkok Aligned to Fight Disasters and Other Common Challenges
/ -- In a display of global city strategy, the governors of Tokyo and Bangkok have lined up to tackle climate-linked natural disasters, an aging and shrinking population, and other challenges facing their bustling Asian megalopolises. Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko and her Bangkok counterpart Chadchart Sittipunt signed a joint communiqué when they met for about an hour at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration building on February 6, the second day of Ms. Koike's three-day stay in Bangkok at the invitation of Mr. Chadchart. The statement commits the two governors to work together to build sustainable cities through addressing urban challenges such as 'declining birthrates, aging populations and the creation of innovation.' In the document, Ms. Koike emphasizes the importance of city-to-city cooperation in responding to 'increasingly frequent and severe' natural disasters occurring worldwide amid climate change. 'A more livable city for everyone' 'With this joint communiqué as a new first step, we want to move forward as partners in identifying common challenges and finding solutions,' the Tokyo governor said at a joint news conference following the signing ceremony. 'We aim to make its effects felt by the respective citizens of Bangkok and Tokyo.' Mr. Chadchart said he hoped the knowledge gained from this cooperation will benefit his citizens and help make Bangkok 'a more livable city for everyone.' 'We want to study some of Tokyo's (flood-response) models,' he said referring to massive floods that have regularly hit Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand. The governor also expressed interest in learning from Tokyo's sewerage and waterworks measures. His comment resonates with the slogan used by the former structural engineer to make Bangkok, a hub for the Southeast Asian region, 'a livable city for everyone' when he won the 2022 gubernatorial election. He aims to put Bangkok among the top 50 livable cities in the world by 2027, focusing on sustainable development that meets the needs of its 5.4 million residents. Ms. Koike, a former member of national parliament who was elected in 2016 as Tokyo's first female governor, also has a grand design for the Japanese capital city of 14 million that is the core of the world's largest metropolitan area. As part of Tokyo's strategy for 2050, her administration has recently set policy targets for 2035, including an effort to make Tokyo the 'best city in the world' that strikes a balance between ongoing 'growth' and 'maturity,' and makes people feel happy. 'Green infrastructure', an underground network to tame floods Before and after their formal talks, Mr. Chadchart guided Ms. Koike through a lush forest park in the city center and the huge Phra Khanong pumping station that controls water levels in Bangkok's canals and discharges water into the Chao Phraya River. Both facilities help mitigate fatal floods. The 'green infrastructure' built in the Benjakitti Forest Park is designed to absorb rainwater in the event of a downpour. The park's greenery also helps purify air and water while the city is gripped with chronic air pollution. Tokyo is operating nearly 30 'underground regulating reservoirs' to contain floodwater. Ms. Koike, once a minister of the environment, told Thai media that her government is considering a massive new project to build an underground channel to divert excessive rainwater into the Bay of Tokyo by connecting additional regulating reservoirs under construction. 'We want to continue sharing the knowledge with Bangkok about anti-flooding measures and climate change that are our common challenges,' she said. Bangkok tips Tokyo on how to invigorate nightlife In the evening, Ms. Koike and Mr. Chadchart viewed illuminated historic buildings along the Chao Phraya River, major attractions in Bangkok's nighttime tourism. 'You can revitalize the economy by making effective use of nighttime. Tokyo has needed to do something about its nightlife that ends too early after the COVID pandemic,' she told reporters after the tour, which she described as 'very helpful.' In the joint communiqué, Ms. Koike offers to share the knowledge necessary for further advancing sustainable tourism. She also proposed boosting cooperation in promoting the tourism industry in the two capital areas. Mr. Chadchart agrees to the idea. 'How Tokyo should restore lively nighttime. Bangkok has given us a great hint,' Ms. Koike told Thai media. The number of foreign tourists visiting Tokyo is estimated to have reached a record 25 million in 2024. As an example of Tokyo's own initiative to boost nighttime tourism, the governor cited the nightly projection mapping show, 'Tokyo Night & Light,' organized by her administration and related entities. It has already drawn half a million visitors since its launch in late February last year, she said. In the show, several short audio-visual artworks are projected onto the façade of the landmark 48-floor Tokyo Metropolitan Government No. 1 Building. Guiness World Records has recognized it as the largest permanent architectural projection-mapped display. The works feature popular characters and objects such as the premier movie monster Godzilla, traditional Ukiyo-e paintings and the world-famous J-pop duo YOASOBI. Developing youth to play an active role on the world stage Ms. Koike spent her last day in Bangkok visiting a top international school and meeting locally based representatives of small and medium enterprises from Tokyo. In the morning at NIST International School, which provides full International Baccalaureate programs and offers foreign language lessons in 12 different languages, the Tokyo governor had a first-hand look at how global talents are nurtured. 'In the sense that we are required to develop human resources capable of competing with their peers in the world's other megacities,' she said, 'I have learned much here today.' She later met the Bangkok representatives of startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises in Tokyo. Her official program in Bangkok ended when she visited the local offices of the Tokyo SME Support Center and the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute. It was Ms. Koike's second official overseas engagement since her re-election to a third term last July. In November she toured Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Baku to cement Tokyo's ties with the Arab world and present Tokyo's initiatives at the U.N. COP29 climate conference in the capital of Azerbaijan. In a wrap-up interview with Thai media, the Tokyo governor promised to continue working hard together with Bangkok to 'solve common challenges and improve benefits for residents.' The Chao Phraya River may be a major tourist attraction but, at the same time, 'it supports the livelihood of people and brings a great danger once it overflows,'she said. 'This is also the case with Tokyo.' International PR Strategic PR Division
